Sheet product dispensers, such as paper towel dispensers or tissue dispensers, provide on-demand sheet product to a user from a supply of sheet product stored within the dispenser, such as in roll form. The sheet product is dispensed from the roll by passing one end of the sheet product through a pair of rollers. Depending on the type of dispenser, dispensing may be accomplished automatically (e.g., with a motor) or manually (e.g., using the force a user applies).
Due to the compact nature of sheet product dispensers, it is difficult to provide a large, long standing supply of paper towels. Thus, janitors or other maintenance personnel are often required to replace empty paper towels. The variable nature of use, however, makes it difficult for a janitor to predict when a replacement will be needed. Moreover, schedule demands of a janitor and the desire to avoid wasting paper left on a roll leads to the situation where the janitor may be unsure whether or not to replace a towel roll. In this regard, the situation of having no paper towels in the dispenser (a completely empty scenario) may arise. Alternatively, the situation of discarding a roll with remaining paper may arise. Further, janitors or other maintenance personnel may be unfamiliar with the loading process of various sheet product dispensers, leading to improper loading or increased time to load the sheet product dispenser.